Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson have fantastic names but are utterly believable as is every wonderful word of Chester Himes THE REAL COOL KILLERS. Their interplay based on mutual respect and a shared understanding of the world around them makes opening any of their stories worthwhile. The patois of the streets and the bitter resignation of those who patrol a world largely outside the dominant white culture (though often subject to it's whims and desires) gives this book and much of Himes writing a pulse to pop and lungs to breath with. Even characters that appear for only a few lines beg to be followed into their own lives. Amazing that I want to know more about everyone who comes into the light of the narrative. The action moves around Harlem in such a fashion that it becomes a character too. In fact so vividly, that I printed up a map of Harlem to follow the action. Even the shadows had as much substance as the keypad I'm typing on. Contained almost entirely in one evening, the story never stops moving and the pressure steadily increases until an explosive ending is unavoidable. But there is never really a resolution--no tidy ending. Johnson and Jones are doing their job. Often they come across people who deserve to be stood up and knocked down, but it never makes those people less tragic. So much is wasted in Harlem except for Himes words that describe the tragic beauty of it all.